Path Analysis of Welfare Use: Depression as a Mediating Factor

Vanessa Hunn, Claudia J. Heath

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Path analysis was conducted to determine causal effects of life circumstances on depression and effects of these measures on employment and welfare use. Data were from the Welfare and Self-Sufficiency Survey conducted in a metropolitan county of Kentucky. Direct effects indicate that economic hardships and adverse life events increase depression scores and depression reduces earnings and increases welfare use. Indirect effects of economic hardships and adverse life events, through the mediating effects of depression, reinforce depression's effects on employment and welfare use. The data include measures of life circumstances and depression scores of low-income women; thereby, permitting a path model that uniquely contributes to knowledge regarding the effects of life circumstances and depression on TANF-eligible women's employment and welfare use.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)341-355
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Family and Economic Issues
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2011

Keywords

  • Depression
  • Economic hardships
  • Employment
  • Life circumstances
  • Welfare use

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Economics and Econometrics

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